Bond Ripped Logo LS Tee | Black Black

Share this Product

Why Bond is Closing...

After announcing the decision to close Bond I received many messages along the lines of “What happened?” and “Let me know what I can do to help.” and while I know they came from a good place, the fact of the matter is that businesses close because the sales don’t cover the expenses, and when a business decides to close it’s too late to help. My only regret is not sharing what I’m about to sooner.

Independent businesses operate on slim margins. We don’t have the buying power to twist the Big Brand’s arm for a discount, ad dollars, or returns of poor selling stock.

So if you’re even 10% as heartbroken as I am about Bond closing here’s what you can do. Support local independent businesses. Buy things at full price. Stop shopping at factory stores or only when things are on sale. We don’t make money when you do that, but we smile like it’s all good because that’s what we have to do.

It’s small businesses that actually contribute to the vibrancy of our communities and you get to vote with your dollars on which businesses you want to succeed.

And just to de-mystify how retail margins work; here’s an info graphic fromsolereview.com:

Meaning for every $100 we project in sales, $50 goes to the brand, $17 goes to wages, rent and wifi, $3 goes to taxes, $6 comes to us, and on average $24 gets discounted. That’s an optimistic average in my opinion, and it doesn’t give us much room to make mistakes. That $6 is so crucial to our ability to operate. Not supporting small businesses means Amazon wins and all we will be left with is sub par products overnighted to our desks. No Market Mile’s, no Saturday morning runs, no community.

And just to be clear, I appreciate every single person who spent a dollar or a minute at Bond while we were open. I just wish there were more of you so we could have kept going even longer.

I don’t view this as a failure. I’ve learned a great deal through this venture, and I look forward to reorienting Bond towards success we can all share in.